Preface: In this short reflection, I remember my childhood in my small hometown in Oklahoma, why I loved it and also an important lesson I learned from my mother. I begin with a folk/school yard song title, and end with a well-known saying about girls (contrasting to the strong character of my mom.)
Eenie Meenie Miney Moe
I was nine years old. It was 1963, and I lived in a small town called Newkirk, just nine miles from Ponca City on the northern Oklahoma/Kansas border. The poor people, Black people, Ponca Indians (and me) lived on the wrong side of the railroad tracks. Everybody else lived on the other side near the big Baptist church, the library, the school, and the movie theater. What a great life! I rode my bike all over town, already had my own newspaper route and money, and played baseball until the sun went down.
There were monsters too. A belching ebony oily locomotive flattened the pennies and nickels that my buddy Nick and I left on the tracks as we headed for home after school. Just off the winding dirt road, we discovered a huge stinking pile of decapitated frog heads. Nick informed me their legs were needed for the Sunday feast at the colored church. Then I walked jauntily through my front door chanting, "Eenie, meenie, money, moe, catch a nigger by the toe...".
DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'RE SAYING?!
Even today, I can feel the awful, embarrassing STING of my mom's question greeting me. Thankfully, moms are not just sugar and spice and everything nice.
Preface: In this short reflection, I remember my childhood in my small hometown in Oklahoma, why I loved it and also an important lesson I learned from my mother. I begin with a folk/school yard song title, and end with a well-known saying about girls (contrasting to the strong character of my mom.)
Eenie Meenie Miney Moe
I was nine years old. It was 1963, and I lived in a small town called Newkirk, just nine miles from Ponca City on the northern Oklahoma/Kansas border. The poor people, Black people, Ponca Indians (and me) lived on the wrong side of the railroad tracks. Everybody else lived on the other side near the big Baptist church, the library, the school, and the movie theater. What a great life! I rode my bike all over town, already had my own newspaper route and money, and played baseball until the sun went down.
There were monsters too. A belching ebony oily locomotive flattened the pennies and nickels that my buddy Nick and I left on the tracks as we headed for home after school. Just off the winding dirt road, we discovered a huge stinking pile of decapitated frog heads. Nick informed me their legs were needed for the Sunday feast at the colored church. Then I walked jauntily through my front door chanting, "Eenie, meenie, money, moe, catch a nigger by the toe...".
DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'RE SAYING?!
Even today, I can feel the awful, embarrassing STING of my mom's question greeting me. Thankfully, moms are not just sugar and spice and everything nice.